Mojave Winter
by Winter Legrow
Summary: Boone/Courier. Winters' family was killed by the Legion causing her to look for revenge. updates will be slow due to a prequel for this i'm writing about her mother and father.  Lone Wanderer and Butch DeLoria  i know it doesn't fit the timeline. :/ Enjoy
1. Chapter 1 Meeting

He had known she was different even before he met her in person. He remembered watching through his scope as she limbed her way across the desert and close to Novac. She had looked up and stopped. He thought she couldn't see him. It was night and he was in the dinosaurs' mouth. He saw her reach for a gun and hold it up. He readied himself for the shot. That's when she waved. A huge smile flashed across her face and she waved like crazy, practically bouncing. He could swear he heard a tinkling laugh coming from the Mojave. Reluctantly he had waved back to her. She lowered the gun and smiled bright before practically running into the town. _Maybe I should shoot her now…_ he had thought. He shrugged the thought off and looked for her again in his scope. She was no where to be found. "shit." He cursed under his breath. He moved the barrel of the gun around in larger circles something tapped his shoulder. He turned around swinging the barrel at whatever had touched him to see the girl from below standing there playing with the dinosaurs' tooth, she even had one of the smaller dinosaurs' from the gift shop in her hand. "Don't sneak up on me like that." He had said perhaps a little to cruelly. A look crossed her face between sadness and trying not to smile. "I just wanted to say hi."

"you shouldn't be up here." She walked closer. "why not?"

"you just shouldn't be. I'm on duty." She raised one eyebrow. "oh," she sat cross legged on the floor. "what do you so then?" he sighed. "I'm the nighttime sniper. " she gasped and rocked forward, palms flat on the floor. "so you protect the town!"

"yeah." She quickly got back to her feet, holding her hands in little fists over her chest. "what do you protect tem from?" a pause. "anything that looks like a threat." She thought about it for a moment. "so that's why you were watching me with your scope! You thought I was dangerous didn't you? Do you still think I'm scary and dangerous?" she asked making little fighting stances, keeping weight off her left leg. "no." her face fell. "but I'm powerful!" she complained. He sighed. "so," she asked. "do you have many friends here?"

"no, I don't get along with people from here." A small half smile came across her face. "I'm not from around here." He thought about this for a moment. "no, no your not are you. You might be just what I need." She looked puzzled. "with what?"

"the people here. I can't trust them. I need someone who isn't from here. Someone I can trust. Your not from here so that's a start." Her brow burrowed. "you only trust strangers?"

"I said it was a start." He barked impatiently. The small smirk came back. "so what do you need help with?" he placed his rifle to the side and crossed his arms. "my wife. She taken from our house when I was on duty by legion. They knew when to come and how to get in and out quietly. She's dead now. I want the son of a bitch that sold her." A sudden seriousness overcame her face. "how do you know she's dead?"

"I just know alright." He bit. She nodded. "I'll help."

"okay ill give you my beret. It'll be our signal. When you find them put this on and bring them out in front of the dinosaur mouth while I'm on duty. I need to kill them myself." He handed her the beret and she nodded placing in in her back pocket. "I know."

"how'd you know?" he asked as she handed him his beret back. She handed him a slip of paper as he adjusted the hat. He took it and read it. "it'd be just like them to keep paper work. Thank you." She nodded. "what will you do now?" she asked catching him off guard. No one ever really cared what he did. He thought for a moment and shrugged. "I will probably just wander. There's nothing left for me here." He graved his rifle and headed for the door. When he put his hand on the knob she spoke. "why don't you come with me?" he scoffed to himself but turned around still. "why?" she uncrossed her arms and took a few step towards him. "you have something against the legion. Your going to hunt them aren't you?" he paused. "yes."

"then come with me. We'll kill more with two of us." He considered it. She did have a point. "alright. Your funeral." Her face stayed calm and distant. "you underestimate me. Go get what you need. I want to buy another dinosaur toy."


	2. Chapter 2 Captives

"This is bolder city?" she stared at the broken down piles of rubble and the absence of life. "Why would NCR even think of being here?" she kicked a stone. "You know what never mind let's just kill these bastards." Boone nodded and followed her through the rubble to try and find someone. Hell anyone would be a welcome sight. She learned very quickly that Boone was not as talkative as she was, a few times she actually had to make sure he wasn't a reanimated corpse or something by pointing her pistol at him and waiting for a reaction. Needless to say he didn't find it as funny as she did.

"Civilians aren't allowed here. You need to leave." Winter turned to see a man standing cross armed in front of a make shift door. "What seems to be the problem?" she asked gesturing to the gun shots behind the door. "Fiends, Too many for my men to overcome. Two were taken captive by them already" The man turned to Boone and gestured to the beret. "Good work soldier." Boone mumbled a half sincere thanks. "I think I can help." The man turned back to face Winter. "I doubt that." She smirked. "Now I'm going to take a guess and say you think I wouldn't be able to help because I'm so small correct?" she didn't wait for an answer. "That may be true but I'm fast, strong, and stealthy. I think I could get past those fiends, take out the leaders, and rescue the captives so your men are free to fire at will." He thought about it for a moment. "Alright, bring them back and we fire." She nodded and disappeared through the door.

She moved around the back of the NCR troopers and headed along the wall to the first opening in a building she could see. She twisted her back around the stone to slip into the gap as quietly as she could. She pulled out a straight razor and quickly brought it across the man guarding the two captives neck. She moved silently across the room and put a finger to her lips, signaling for them to stay quiet. They nodded and quietly they were to go back to the rest of the troopers and to tell them not to enter the building next to them until she was gone. They nodded and took off. She snuck past the fiends outside off the buildings and rushed to the only intact building around. She turned to Boone. "go back and wait with the troopers." He shock his head. "not happening." She scowled. "why not?"

"they might shoot you if you leave with out someone they know is NCR." She rolled her eyes and motioned for him to follow. She slipped inside the shop quietly enough and recognized the three in there as the fiends who had helped the man in the checkered coat. She stood and cleared her throat. Two off them looked at her stunned, the third lay dying on a mattress in the corner. "Miss me?" she asked, smiling sweetly. The two fiends stood rooted to the spot, Winter walked slowly up to them, they watched her as she pulled the first mans head back and quickly and cleanly slit his throat. The second man swallowed hard and jumped over the counter running to the door in an attempt to escape. Boone stepped in front of the door, rifle pressing against his stomach. "You murderer!" called the man just before Winter cut his throat. Boone stood in front of the door unmoving, face hardened as he watched her finish the last man before turning back to him. She walked up to him, waving her gloved hand in front of his face. "Bitter…." He whispered softly and unknowingly. Winter waved her hands around franticly in front of his face to no effect. She stepped back and thought to herself. _What did mom say she did to dad when he saw a radroach…?_ She snapped as she remembered. She pulled her arm back and smacked him hard across the face, sending his sunglasses flying and his eyes flying open.

"Hey it actually works!" she cried happily. Boone, on the other hand, glared at her menacingly before bending down to retrieve the glasses. "What was that for?" he growled, readjusting his glasses and beret. "my mom told me that when ever she would travel with my dad and he got freaked out over the radroaches she'd slap him and he'd forget about it and be mad at her instead of being scared." He grunted. "I wasn't scared I was thinking." She frowned. "You were pale white." He shook his head and walked over to one of the bodies. "Why did you hate these people so much?"

"I don't hate their people I hate them. They were with the man that attacked me." She sighed bending down to search their pockets and even take one of their bandanas. "What happened anyways?"

"I don't want to talk about it." She said simply stuffing the goods into her messenger bag. "What happened at Bittersprings?" he narrowed his eyes behind his lens. "What?" she stepped closer to him, wiping her hands off on the pants of her Merc Adventurer outfit. "When you were kinda out of it you said Bittersprings. What happened?" he shook his head and turned around. "Wouldn't know I wasn't there."


	3. Chapter 3 Teddy Bear

"Why do you keep graving toys?" asked Boone after watching her run franticly around a small shop filled with teddy bears and Nuka-Cola trucks. When he spoke she stopped and almost lost her grip on all of her goods. She paused wide-eyed and thought franticly for a good excuse. "Well what can I say," she laughed flashing a big goofy smile. "I'm a child at heart I guess." Boone scoffed and shook his head. "You don't believe me!" she cried placing both hands on her hips, dropping everything. "Oh shit." She swore as she bent down to pick up her toys. Boone picked up the teddy bear that had landed by his feet and placed it on the very top of the waving pile Winter tried to carry in her arms, causing it to topple over. "Boone!" she whined stomping her foot down. He chuckled and handed her a duffle bag. "Found it. Might as well carry your play toys in here." She smiled and graved the bag from him before dropping it suddenly. "You didn't put a bomb in it did you?" she asked poking the bag with a large stick that had been leaning against the wall. He pulled his eye brows together. "Why would I do that?" he asked. "I thought you might try and blow the teddy bears up…. Since you don't like them." She gave up on poking the bag and placed them inside along with the Nuka-Cola trucks and a few dinosaur toys she'd found. Boone shrugged, watching her place her goods away. "Never thought about it." She placed a pack of Gumdrops into the bag before pulling out a teddy bear and putting it so close to Boones' face he had to cross his eyes to focus on it. "How can you not love them their so adorable!" she laughed.

He took the stuffed bear and examined it, before finally tossing it in the bag. "You ready?" he asked already at the door. She zipped up her bag, graved her messenger bag, and ran after him. "Yup!" she slowed when she caught up to him. "we need to go to a town real quick."

"Okay what town?" when he asked her expression turned from happy to dark for a moment. It left just as he realized it was there, being replaced by a smile. "You'll see."

"I've never heard of this place before." Boone spoke when they neared a large sign reading "ClearView" Winter hurried ahead. "Don't worry we're just going to stay the night then head back out." He nodded in response. They walked through the center of the destroyed town until they neared a small house with peeling brown paint. Defiantly a pre-war house. She took a deep breath before opening the decaying door, resisting the urge to call out she was home. She held out her Assault Carbine and began advancing through the house looking for danger. After clearing both stories, they walked into the ruined kitchen. Boone sat at the table to clean a bit of dirt off his rifle that had been bothering him for ages. Winter dug through her bag and pulled out two bottles of purified water, a whiskey, two apples, and two boxes of Fancy Lad snacks. "Not exactly the dinner of kings but it'll do." She mumbled, graving her bags and leaving the room. "Where are you going?" Boone asked opening one of the water bottles.

"just going to put some stuff up and take a quick peak around town."

"Maybe I should go with you." He offered getting up from his chair and placing the water down. She turned quickly, eyes-wide. "No!" she paused. "Wha… what I mean is I just changed my mind I think I'll be going to bed soon. Night." She waved and hurried up the stairs. Boone sat back down in the chair and began to polish the rifle again. Of course she'd be going somewhere and she'd probably sneak out. He went to grave his water when he knocked one of the apples down. It rolled across the floor before thunking against the wall. Sighing Boone got up to pick it up. When he bent down it sounded like their was an echo coming from the other side of the wall. Placing the apple down and graving his rifle he knocked along the wall until he came to a small switch hidden below the fridge. He clicked it and the wall opened up to show a corridor. Cautiously he made his way down the corridor till he came to a small room. It was filled with everything a family would need to survive for months in it. He picked up a blood stained teddy bear when he heard a gasp. He swiveled around to see Winter in the doorway a look of disbelief and horror on her face. He stood, sill holding the bear, and walked towards her.

"did you know this was here?" he asked gesturing around the room. "N…n…no..I..I didn't know…" she walked in the room looking around in horror. She stopped at one of the beds and just stared at it. Boone moved to her side and looked down. There lay a diary with a page torn out. The cover had a picture of a tree covered with some white chunks and a horizon of white in front of a full moon. Under the picture read "The only Winter the Mojave will ever meet."

She picked up the note and the diary. She unfolded the note over the diary blocking out the tree and the quote. At first she read quietly, suddenly her eyes got wide and she ran from the room, dropping the paper. Boone bent down to look at the paper. It was a bill of sale.

_ We, the representatives of the Consul Officiorum, have this day bargained and purchased from Enclave Representative, Robert Stihl, of the township of ClearView the exclusive rights to kill and maim the offenders Butch Deloria, and Alice LeGrow,for the sum of one thousand Bottle caps and those of their children, Winter LeGrow, Christine Deloria, and the unborn, unnamed child for the sum of five hundred bottle caps, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged. We covenant with the said, Robert Stihl, that we have full power to bargain and sell said offenders and their offspring. Payment of an additional five hundred bottle caps will be due pending successful maturation of the fetus, the claim to which shall be guaranteed by possession of this document. M. Scribonius Libo Drusus et al.  
>Administrators of M. Licinius Crassus, Consul Officiorum ab Famulatus<em>

Boone crumbled up the paper and threw it over his shoulder. He looked down at the blood smear on the bed trailing to the larger bed. Their he saw a blood soaked dinosaur toy and four bloody hand prints on the mattress. Neither of the people who made them could have been over twelve. He picked up the dinosaur gently, turning it over in his hands. He held it tight, graved his rifle, and headed into the night.

He found her crumpled onto her side by three graves. The duffle bag lay empty next to her. He glanced at the graves and saw that the smallest one was covered with teddy bears, Nuka-Cola trucks, dinosaur toys, and the occasional box of bubble gum. The next smallest was covered with flowers, Gumdrops, and a picture. The last and largest has bottles of whiskey around it stacked into a design that reminded Boone of the old world thrones. Next to this grave was a much smaller one that Boone had missed it at first. The headstone was maybe the size of a lunch box and it lay bear except for a baseball and a baseball glove.

He bent down to Winter, placing a hand on her shoulder. She tensed as if she was trying to stop crying, she sat up, not ever looking at Boone. "Please." She sniffed. "If you're here to kill me, at least let me be buried with them."

"I'm not going to kill you Winter." She turned around quickly to see Boone kneeling down, his hand on her shoulder. As soon as the shock of seeing him faded her eyes welled up with tears again and she began to cry hysterically. He inched forward holding her against him, petting her head until she cried herself to sleep. He picked her up gently and began to walk away from the makeshift grave yard.


	4. Chapter 4 Daddys' Gun

"Tie him up!" she yelled to Boone as she cleared a straight path to Caesar. Boone moved quickly taking, as gross at it was, one of his own soldiers intestines and tied him firmly to his throne. Winter moved quickly to the other side of the tent and shot one of the dogs in the head, causing a explosion of blood and brain matter through off the advancing recruit. She took the shot before the blood even cleared from the air, causing another explosion of blood, and switched to shoot the last man in the head before standing. She looked at the bloodied ground before turning to Boone and Caesar. He sat dignified in his throne, almost as if he wasn't tied up with intestines. She stopped just in front of him. "Do you remember me?" she asked looking down at him. "Why would I remember some women? A commoner? A Slave." He put a particular emphasize on the word slave causing her to narrow her eyes. "oh you better remember me. You better remember every single second!" she growled letting anger get the better of her. He simply looked at her as though his glare alone could make her back off.

"your LeGrows' daughter." He said finally. "I was hoping to find you and completely end your family name."

"well I saved you the trouble and came straight to you." She pulled out a ten millimeter pistol and held it to the side of his head. "Do you know who this pistol belonged to?" she asked through clenched teeth. Silence. "well do you!" she yelled slapping him across the face with the butt of it. "need a hint? Why don't you look at the engraving?" she held the end of the pistol to his face where he could see the words carved into the side. "Butch Deloria." He said simply. "So what? You're planning on killing me with your fathers pistol?" she gritted her teeth. "Originally that was the plan." She nodded to Boone who moved over to the tent flap and cautiously left. "I have bigger plans for you though." Boone had returned with a large duffle bag and a few planks of wood. "now here's where I'm at an impasse. Should I crucify you like you did to my father? Maybe i should slit your throat while you pass a child out of your body like my mother. Theres also the option of lighting you on fire and throwing you down the grand canon like my dear friend Joshua." She paused, Swallowing her tears. "or maybe I should beat you half to death and through you into the bottom of a lake with everyone you love watching like you did to my baby sister!" now she was screaming, tears flowing down her cheeks. He lifted his eyes to hers. "This is why I d not allow women to serve in the Legion. Their to weak." The next noise was the loud crack as fist contacted jaw.

Boone looked on, wondering if he should let her continue or if he should stop her before she regretted something. He walked calmly up to Winter, ducking when her fist would swing back before going to punch the tyrant again and again in the ribs. He reached forward and graved both her wrists, holding her as steady as he could. She may be small but she was strong. She was crying and screaming, fighting as hard as she could to leave Boones' grip. Finally she ran out of steam and the battles from earlier caught up. She slumped down to her knees and Boone kneeled down behind her placing her hands in her lap before standing up again. _He's dead… he's finally dead._ She kept thinking to herself over and over again. Just when she was about to chuckle with joy he coughed, blood coming down the sides of his mouth, chuckling he looked down on her smiling slightly. "is that all you've got? Pathetic, just like your father and mother." Boone raised his rifle to take the final shot when he heard a pistol go off. He lowered the gun to see Winter kneeling before Caesar with her fathers pistol pointed between his eyes. "I hope you get slaughtered in your next life too," she stood in front of the corpse. "And I hope it's by me again." Her hands dropped the gun and she slid down beside it. She cried, weather of relief or sadness, or pain, not even she knew. The next thing she knew Boone was beside her. "How are you?" he asked softly. She nodded. "I'm fine." She stood up, graving Caesars armor and placing it in her bag. "Come on. Let's go."


	5. Chapter 5 Cookcook

"All right," panted Winter, completely exhausted. "Remind me NEVER to meddle in the affairs of Powder Gangers again." Boone chuckled dryly, taking another swig of his water. "Remind me never to follow you into another fucking vault again." Now Winter chuckled dryly. "Go to hell, how was I suppose to know they'd use the blasting powder they made with the sulfur against us?" she turned slightly to dig through her pack, obviously looking for her water bottle. "Their ex convicts Winter. What'd you expect them to do with it? Mine for salt?" Boone offered her some of his water but she pushed it away. "I'm not taking any of your water." She explained standing up. Boone frowned slightly. "I don't think what I have can be spread through water." She smirked, graving her bag. "you're right I don't think bad luck can spread through water." She smiled half heartedly before tossing her bag over her shoulder, graving her modified sniper rifle, and started walking in the other direction. "I'll be back in a bit. I'm going to find a water source." She called over her shoulder and seconds later she heard shuffling. "I'll go with you." She turned to see him standing up. "oh no you don't, your going to stay here and rest."

"there could be danger." Winter shock her head. "I'll be fine. I'm a big girl, you stay here and rest. Got it? I won't go far." She waved and walked off.

_Maybe I should have let him come with me, _she thought as she walked through a crevasse, then squeezing carefully between two rocks. _I think I'm lost. _She stopped and look at her PipBoy's map when she heard a noise behind her. "Boo…" a loud crack and the sun went black. _Boone?_

"You sure you didn't damage it?"

"Don't worry boss. We just hit her over the head before she could turn around. She should come to in a while" a chuckle. "Good," a hand moving her chin. "A pretty one too, I prefer blonde rather then black but it'll do." _What the hell? _She thought. Her eyes fluttered open to see who was assessing her. "Well good morning, have a nice nap?" he smirked showing missing teeth. "You'll need all your energy for what I'm about to do to you." Her heart stopped when she finally realized who the man was. _Cook-cook. _

"Damn I thought they'd never end." Boone grunted, wiping the sweat off his brow. When she had walked off he managed to stay put for a few minutes before trailing after her. It's not that he doesn't trust her. He doesn't trust anyone else. He had kept a distance watching through his scope. She had just squeezed through two rocks when he heard a rattle behind him and found a nightstalker rearing for an attack. He quickly took out a knife she had given him and walked forward slowly to try and kill it before it could give away his position. It reared back and sprung forward knocking him to the ground and making him roll sideways down the hill, onto a notch of land sticking out of the side of the mountain like area. He managed to finally decapitate the mutation but not before it took a swipe at him causing three straight lines of blood to appear across his cheek and ending on his neck . quickly he climbed back up the slope, picking up his rifle he panned the scope around for a while till he finally spotted her again. Being carried away unconscious by two fiends.

Currently he ran through the tunnel of broken buildings looking for where they had taken her. Judging by the flood of fiends in the area he must be close. As Winter had always said, 'When in doubt. Follow the enemies.' He turned the corner to see an alley way ending with a make shift tent. Two of the fiends stood with their backs to him. He heard soft cries and what seemed like screams of panic coming from within the tent. The two fiends laughed. "They always scream." The second laughed harder. "It's always best when they haven't recovered their voices yet. Sounds like their enjoying it!" they both cracked up practically rolling around. "Hope we get a turn soon. She was cute." The second went to make a come back to the statement, but found that he was currently missing his head. The other turned to face his friends attacker to only have his head blown off as well.

Boone ran down the alley and ran through the flap to find Winter trying unseccesfully to crawl away from her attacker who was keeping her in place by gripping the rope trying her hands, her hair, and his member half way inside of her already. She tried to scream only for it to come out hoarse and broken, followed by sobs. Her rapist laughed loudly with pleasure, right before Boone blasted his fucking head off. his body slumped to the ground Winters' sapphire eyes got wide as she turned to see Boone still peering down his scope. He crossed across the room and bent down cutting the ropes from her ankles and wrists. She turned over, pulling her underwear back up, and pulled her knees to her chest resting her head in her arms.

"You okay?" he asked stupidly. Of course she wasn't alright. She'd almost just been raped by a fiend leader. After a few moments of silence she raised her head and tried to smile though pain and fear shined through her eyes no matter how hard she tried to hide it. "yeah I'm good. Thank you." Her voice shook as she tried to hide her fear behind fake cheerfulness. "what exactly happened?"

"when I left i….." tear began to pool around her eyes he could tell she was trying to not blink in fear they would spill over and he instantly regretted asking. He had seen her cry way to many times lately and most was from her past. This time he could have stopped it. He could have saved her before she had a reason to cry. He put his hands on her shoulders and pulled her towards him wrapping his arms around her shoulders. She stiffened then melted gripping his shirt, pulling him closer, and crying into his chest. He stroked her knotted waist length raven hair and silently swore to himself she'd never cry again, not if he could help it. She reminded him of Carla. She could make him forget. She always would light up a room by saying the stupidest things. She talked almost none stop too. He thought of the letter he found in Carlas draw. The one she told him to look in if something happened to her. He thought it was stupid, he thought he could protect her from anything, he was wrong. He kept it with him every where, right next to his heart and his letter to her. She had told him she loved him, and to please move on. She had even thrown a little joke in about how if he ever had a baby girl he wasn't allowed to name her Carla or she'd come back to haunt him. He couldn't take a chance like that again, but he felt he needed to protect her.

Slowly Winter pulled back, she felt terrible. She felt she deserved to be held after what had just happened but Boone wasn't that kind of guy so it felt unfair. As she pulled away she felt something warm and slick on her cheek. She lifted her hand to touch it to find fresh blood, only it wasn't hers, Cook-cook had cut her and made her bleed, but it was her chest and arms, not her face. She looked up from her hand and to see the blood had come from Boone. His face had three diagonal slashes down it, most of the blood was dried but it had reopened since it had begun to heal. "Boone your bleeding." She reached up to touch his cheek but he moved her hand away and pulled his arms away from her shoulders standing up. "I'm fine. We need to get you some where safe." She nodded and he helped her stand on shakey feet. He lead her out of the tent. _And I'm sorry._


	6. Chapter 6 Night Skies

"It's really beautiful…." Winter sighed, Boone just grunted, agreeing. "I have an idea." Boone looked over prompting here to answer but she just lay on her back starring at the night sky. "What?" now she looked over and a smile was on her face. "lets play a game." His eyebrows furrowed in a way that was either confusion or annoyance. "What kind of game?" her smile got wider. "You ask me a question then I ask you a question. I heard about it from this kid in Freeside I think. It's called twenty questions." Boone turned his head back to look up at the sky again. "Fine." Winter smiled and looked back to the sky. "Alright, I'll go first. What's your first name?"

"Craig." Winter had to look over to the side to sniffle a laugh. "Okay your turn."

"What's your favorite color?" Winter frowned. "Black but that's not a very good question…" Boone shrugged. "Your turn." Winter thought for a moment before she thought of a question that would turn the questionnaire more serious. "Where are your parents?" Boone shrugged. "Probably back in California. Why were you named Winter?"

"On the way over from the capital my parents stopped to gather supplies and fuel for the vertibird they stole, my mom was told to wait there since she was preggers with me but she didn't listen and went exploring near by. When she went into this old building I guess it was an old recording studio because there were holotapes of music everywhere. My mom picked up a bunch and she really liked this song named Winter so they changed my to-be-name to Winter."

"What do you mean came over from the wasteland?" Winter shook her head. "It's one question per turn. It's my turn now. What was your tour with the NCR like?"

"It was fine. I felt like I was actually doing something that mattered out there but when I met Carla she didn't like that I was away so much so I settled down with her in Novac. Now what do you mean 'came over from the capital'?"

"My parents were both from a vault in the capital wasteland. It use to be DC before the bombs fell. My mom did all sorts of good things over there, she brought fresh, clean water there since everything was irradiated, she increased the growth of the only tree in the whole place so that maybe it would become green again, she managed to get rid of all the Enclave by blowing up their base and slowly getting rid of any of the wanders with the brotherhood of steel, she even found a home for some little boy who's father died. She was called many things like, last, best hope for humanity, Miss 101, vaultie, James's kid, but her name was actually Alice. My dad called her Bunny to tick her off because she would jump a lot when they were kids." Winter eyes glistened as she talked about the achievements of her mother. "But there were some people who didn't like her. Their was a group of mercs who tried to kill her for being so good, not to mention the Enclave, there were also super mutants in the Downtown DC area who caught people and dragged them to this vault, I can't remember the number it's eighty something, to turn them into more super mutants. When my mom found out she was pregnant she freaked out because she didn't want her baby to live in that kind of place. Well this lady who helped my mom and my grandpa when they were trying to get her someplace safe after her mother died when she was born said that they had a Vertibird they had confiscated from the Enclave they could use to get them to this place she'd heard of called New Vegas, my mom and dad agreed but said there were some people they couldn't leave behind. The lady agreed and they got their friends and they left to come over here. The Vertibird crashed somewhere near that irradiated test site in California, when it crashed two of the guards were killed they didn't have time to bury them because the smoke had attracted feral ghouls from near by so they ran south. They found a town called Clearview and bought two of the houses'. When my parents were attacked their friends were away, which is why we were in the secret bunker, so they couldn't help my parents or us." There was silence after Winter finished her lengthy story. Boone just stared at her as she looked up at the sky. "Wow." He finally said looking back up. "My turn right? What was Carla like?"

"She's dead that's all you need to know." Winter turned her head. "your right. I was wrong to ask." After a moment Boone sighed. "it's just not something I'm ready to talk about. With you or anyone." She just looked at the sky in silence. "It's my turn right?" Winter motioned yes with her head. Boone looked over at her again, he watched as she stare intently at a distant spot in the sky, her blue eyes flickering like flames. "who took care of you after your parents passed?" right after he said it he wished he hadn't. here he told her no to a personal question and now he was doing the same thing. She turned her head to look at him, their eyes meting and he saw she was thinking the same thing. Winter finally spoke after a moment. "I can't tell you." her eyes never left Boones. He nodded and went to spoke when she turned over and placed a finger in front of his lips. "I can't tell you, because you wouldn't believe me." She smiled "So I'll take you to meet them. Okay?" she dropped her hand and put both of them folded under her head. Boone turned onto his side as well, tucking one arm under his head and leaving the other one in front of him with in her reach. "alright." Winter smiled, and lightly placed her hand on top of Boones' "Deal. We'll start going that way tomorrow alright?" Boone only nodded. Winter smiled somewhat sadly, squeezed his hand lightly and turned over. They had decided when they first started traveling together that they wouldn't sleep facing each other, Boone said in case anything happened they wouldn't have to flip over to see the other direction, but they both knew he thought it was to intimate.

"Hey Winter." He asked staring at the sky again, one hand on his stomach the one closest to her by his side. "Hmm?"

"Why don't you face this way? I think we're good tonight." She snickered lightly. "Wow Boone, next you'll be asking me to hug you goodnight." Boone growled lightly and turned the opposite way of her. "Forget it; I was just trying to be nice." Winter smiled softly to herself and he could hear the sound of her slipping over. She settled down, looking at the back of his head before finally tugging lightly at his shirt. When he brushed her off she sighed and flipped onto her back, looking up. Boone looked over his shoulder to see her staring blankly at the sky again, the way she did most nights. Normally she would start to cry and he'd pretend to be asleep and not to hear her, this time when that tear slid down her cheek he turned over and graved her opposing arm, pulling her to face him. At first she just looked at him wide eyed in shock then her expression turned to confusion. He took his hand and placed it on her cheek, wiping away the tear with his thumb. "You cry too much." He said bluntly . she smirked and closed her eyes. "sorry." Boone sighed. "I don't mean… It's not a bad thing… it's just…never mind" he gave up and closed his eyes, trying to sleep. Winter watched him, moving her lips to form the words she wanted to say but not putting the force behind them to make the noise. Boone opened his eyes. "If you want to say something say it." Winters normally pale skin turned bright red. "Ah! I wasn't… um I mean.. I was just mouthing the words of a song to myself is all I didn't think you were awake sorry. Well um night." She forced her eyes shut with such force it caused little wrinkles to appear on the bridge of her nose. After a few minutes she risked opening one eye to see that Boone was still watching her. "What?" she asked slightly embarrassed and annoyed. "Something's wrong." He said finally. "Nope everything's fine, and all is right-ish with the world." She said reaching around and rubbing her neck. "We should probably get to bed." She closed her eyes for real this time. Boone watch her still until she bean to fall into twilight. He couldn't help but realize how peaceful she looked falling deeper into oblivion. Finally he swallowed his embarrassment and pride, reaching over he pulled Winter into his arms and placed his chin on her head. She snapped out of it with a squeak and opened her eyes to see Boones' hardened chest in front of her and his smell all around her. "Uhh…" she began to ask before she was cut off. "Goodnight, Win." She smiled at the nickname she had told him countless times he could use and snuggled closer into his chest. "Goodnight, Craig." She wanted to say it was because she had said his first name, though it could've been anything, but she would swear on her own grave that his heart skipped a beat.


	7. Chapter 7 Safety In Mindfullness

"You might want to leave your gun holstered." Winter spoke softly as they approached a pre-war two story house. Boone moved to place his gun back on his back when she caught his wrist. "On second thought you might want to give that to me." When she reached for the gun he moved his arm just out of her reach. "I think I'll keep the gun." Winter bit her lip, contemplating all the possible things that could go wrong before she finally sighed and nodded, heading towards the house. She motioned for him to follow her over. "No matter what, don't take your gun out." She said sternly. Boone nodded and she too a deep breath, opening the front door to the house softly. "Hello?" she called. It echoed around the walls before finally hitting her again. They walked a few steps before Winter put her hand out, stopping Boone from walking. "Fawkes?" She paused glancing around. "The tunnel snakes could ride again." As soon as she finished the phrase there were pounding footsteps coming from down the hall. Suddenly a huge super mutant appeared, like the kind that had centaurs as watchdogs, and began charging towards them. Winters smile grew large but faded when he stopped and stepped back carefully. 'Fawkes wha…?" she looked over her shoulder to see Boone, gun at the ready. "Boone! Put that away!" she whispered harshly, smacking his arm. He put it away slowly, keeping his eyes on Fawkes. Winter walked up to him, looking up at him like a little girl. "Don't worry about him you probably just startled him,: She added quietly. " He was in first recon, NCR." Fawkes nodded softly, letting her know he understood."So do I get a hug or not? I did come all this way." Fawkes smiled, well as much as a super mutant could smile anyways, and scooped her up into his arms as though she were a doll and not a strong, dangerous, women. She giggles and hugged him around his neck. "I missed you Win." Fawkes managed to choke out, even know he had problems with maintaining his ability to speak although it's been years and he's studied the language for real. "I missed you too, Fox." She pulled her face away from him to look him in the eye. "Where's everyone else?"

"They went scavenging. Gob is here though." She smiled and hopped down effortlessly. "By the way; Boone this is Fawkes. Fawkes Boone. Boone Fawkes." She paused to gesture between the two. "Fawkes is one of my mothers' friends from the capital wasteland and he came over with them. After they died he helped to raise me along with five others. Another man named Colin Moriarty made his way over and dropped by a few times while I was growing up though I don't see him often." Boone nodded, keeping his eyes on Fawkes. "Where's Gob at Fox?" Sighed Winter. "I believe he is upstairs. I saw Colin outside earlier and he went to hide."

"Is Colin Still near here?" Asked Winter cautiously, Fawkes shook his head. "He came in to ask we you'd be back and I told him it was uncertain. So he left." Winter nodded and walked back to Boone, tugging at his sleeve to motion to follow. "Would you like me to call him back?" Winter stopped as they began to climb the stairs. Smiling she said, "No. I don't want the stress on poor ob. I'll find him later. Do you know where he went?" Fawkes shrugged. "He mentioned Nipton before leaving." Winter sighed and bit her lip. "Okay I'll look for him later." They began to climb the steps again before stopping. "By the way your English has gotten a lot better." Fawkes smiled. "Thank you." and they disappeared up the stairs.


End file.
